Taksin Maharat National Park

Taksin Maharat National Park is a protected area in northern Thailand named after King Taksin Maharat. It conserves forested hills and upland terrain in the region.

The park offers forested landscapes with seasonal streams, viewpoints and waterfall sites typical of Thailand’s upland national parks. Trails and basic park facilities are used for hiking and nature observation.

Thailand’s Department of National Parks manages the area to conserve habitat and water catchments, and the park has been set aside from agricultural and logging uses. The protected status has maintained the area’s forest cover compared with surrounding lowlands.

Geographically the park lies in northern Thailand’s interior highlands. It occupies mountainous terrain away from major coastal plains and is reached from provincial towns in the broader region.

• Name and purpose: Named for King Taksin Maharat, the park carries a national-level designation and protects upland forest and watershed areas in northern Thailand.

The park sits just 15km west of the turning for Lan Sang National Park on Highway 12 between Tak and Mae Sot, and because of their proximity the two are often visited together. With an elevation of around 1,000 metres and an area of over 200 square kilometres, Taksin Maharat enjoys a fresh climate almost all year.

Its most famous attraction is an enormous krabak tree (Anisoptera spp.), the largest of its kind in Thailand. It stands over 50 metres tall and measures 16 metres around its base, and is found 4km from the park headquarters.

The other major attraction is Saphan Hin, a natural stone bridge that stretches between two cliffs. At 30 metres long and more than 25 metres wide it is impressive to see, though the relatively modest stream gurgling below is a little anticlimactic. The bridge lies about 10km from headquarters and makes for a nice picnic destination.